First there was his ladytastic shoot for Details and then we called Lambert out for trying to talk about female genitalia in gay magazine Out. Now Aaron Hicklin, the editor of Out, is backing up our stance. In his editor's letter in the upcoming Out 100 issue, according to Towelroad, he writes:

It's only because this cover is a group shot that includes a straight woman that your team would allow you to be photographed at all - albeit with the caveat that we must avoid making you look "too gay."...Getting straight men and women to do Out is easy these days. It gives them cred. Getting gay stars like yourself is another matter. Much easier to stick you in Details, where your homosexuality can be neutralized by having you awkwardly grabbing a woman's breast and saying, "Women are pretty." So are kittens, Adam, but it doesn't mean you have to make out with them.

Um, doesn't Lambert make himself look "too gay" with all that glittery and eyeliner and flamboyance? We agree with Hicklin that it's not Adam trying to keep himself in the closet, but the executives, publicists, and other assorted minders that are managing his career. Even though he didn't publicly come out until after American Idol was over, his orientation was the other big pink elephant on the stage sitting right next to Ryan Seacrest. And millions and millions of Americans still voted for him (even though power gay Michael Musto is regretting his decision). Lambert himself has always seemed very confident being open about who he sleeps with, so why are his managers trying to build a closet around him?

There is no way that any celebrity can make a living off of just a gay fan base—there just aren't enough of us to support a giant megastar. So, conventional wisdom says that in order go go mainstream, an entertainer has to tone down the pink glitter in order to not offend anyone. Does anyone remember Liberace? Or Richard Simmons? Maybe part of Lambert's appeal is that he is a big ol' Mary? Maybe teenage girls and straight women want him to continue being the radical fairy that was introduced on Idol.

The specter of Clay Aiken—the other successful gay Idol—hangs over Lambert's career, because after coming out, Aiken hasn't sold nearly as many CDs as when he was in the closet. The difference is that Aiken always skirted the issue and denied that he was gay, trying to court his rabid fan base of girls that wanted to marry him. Lambert has a different kind of appeal. He's the gay guy that (while girls may crush on him) people want to party with. His appeal goes past an asexual charm because he has talent and showmanship—and who doesn't love their pop songs served up with a little bit of pizazz.

Yes, the gays won't be happy until Lambert stops being photographed with naked women and talking about how he wants to give cunnilingus a whirl, but really, that may be the best thing for his career.

He did a remarkable job of not saying much. At 8:15 the party had barely begun at the downtown hotspot, known for its strict velvet rope and the racy performances on its main stage, the gregarious Tank Jones and his brother Marvin (in the role as Levi's trainer) were some of the first people to arrive. They installed the one-time human campaign prop at a table in the corner of the balcony so that several PR people could start the parade of press. The rest of the venue was practically empty, but everyone was clustered around Levi.

As the Observer's John Koblin interviewed Playgirl's spokesman Daniel Nardicio about the future of the magazine, the Levi interviews started. Everyone made way for a camera crew from Entertainment Tonight, which has exclusive access to Levi for all the behind-the-scenes action for the photo shoot that is taking place right now (if everything goes according to schedule). We didn't get close enough to hear what they asked during their ten minutes with Levi.

As they clear out, there were more print interviews to do. Michael Musto came by to say hi, but he interviewed Levi at his hotel earlier. I asked Musto if he was a good interview. He said yes, but agrees that it's hard to get him to say much. Jo Piazza from CNN came in and taped a few second with the Johnston crew. Before she started her interveiew, Tank said he's not answering questions about Sarah Palin or about suing for custody of Tripp, Levi's son with Palin's daughter Bristol. Then he flirted with her a little bit as she squeezed in next to Levi to ask her questions. Most of the questions were the same all night: How is this different from Alaska? What is he going to show? Is he ready for the shoot? Does he know that he's a gay icon? Will he do more porn? What does the future hold?

Levi always answers with the fewest words possible. This may make him appear a bit dim, but it seems a smart move for a guy who's standing around a bunch of people paid to turn any utterance he makes into "news." With the reporters gone, he quietly joked with Tank and Marvin.

When Piazza was done, he joked a bit with Nardicio, teaching him how to tuck a dollop of chew under his lip. "Don't you throw up on this table!" Tank chided. A PR person came by and said there were more interviews to be done. "I know. This isn't my first rodeo," Levi said. Another reporter sat down, this one from People. They knew to send a pretty girl.

When she left, the PR man told Tank that Page Six boss Richard Johnson wanted an introduction. Tank responded, "We're not talking to them. No pictures, nothing." The PR man conveyed the message to Johnson. "He just wants to say hi," Mr. PR pleaded with Tank. But Tank had made up his mind: No Levi for Johnson. "That's fine," said the Page Six editor before heading back downstairs. After he left, Tank complained about a Page Six item accusing Levi having a small dick and thus afraid to do any full-frontal shots: "That's not true!"

There was a break in the action and a PR girl brought by the trophy Levi will receive later in the evening: an 11-inch dildo made of silver. Everyone at the table laughed nervously and made jokes about how Levi isn't going to accept a dildo. Levi returned his trophy to the nice lady and said, "I can't believe I just won a giant silver dildo." He and Tank conferred and decide there can't be any pictures taken of him holding it, so they plan to have Nardicio take the stage with him and hold the award.

Then the photographers arrived. In groups of two, they came by the corner, their flashbulbs blinding in the dark club. Levi knew to look directly into the camera and then occasionally look away to blink. He didn't look like he was having any fun. When all that was over, he passed some time ogling the scantily-clad go-go dancers down below. Tank said, "Those are all real women right? I don't want to look if they're not real women." Another laugh. Nardicio tells them that they're all real women. I pointed out that there were definitely some drag queens in the mix. "That's OK, I didn't want those ones anyway," Levi responded. He told me that he hadn't had any time to go out and party while in New York City. "It's been all work. I'm all about business," he says. "But I like New York more each time I come here." What does he think about this event? "It's different," is all he'll say.

As the show starts, Gawker alum Joshua David Stein showed up asking questions for New York magazine. It was getting loud, the house was full. Tank informed him they'd do an interview later. Levi leaned over the balcony to watching the award ceremony on stage and performances by the likes of boy/boy/girl aerialist trio Mantryx. When the intermission came, the crew decided to go outside for some air.

Out on the sidewalk, it is a whole different scene. Dressed in identical tuxedos like they all went shopping at the same men's store earlier that evening, they moved as a unit. Flanked by two enormous black men, Levi wasn't easy to approach. That didn't stop the reporters. Kelefa Sanneh from the New Yorker came up received a stern lecture from Tank about not asking about Palin or custody. Sanneh started his round of questioning but was cut off by the arrival of two 20-something guys who made up TMZ's camera crew. They'd been tailing Levi and his crew ever since they arrived in New York and seemed almost like old friends. Sanneh backed off, to avoid getting captured by their camera. TMZ doesn't care about restrictions and they began asking about custody and Palin. Tank demurred. "Come on, you know better than that."

While Tank was distracted by dealing with the TMZ mess, Jacob Bernstein from The Daily Beast snuck up and peppered Levi with questions and scribbled furiously in his notebook. A male-female duo from Hollywood Life sidled up and began asking their own questions and with a Flip camera. After the questions, the Hollywood Life crew each took their picture with Levi. With Levi alone again, Sanneh came back for a second attempt at an interview. This time, though, he talked more to Tank that Levi. It's easy to go that direction, since Tank is a gregarious quote machine while Levi answers everything with about three words.

Levi was scheduled to accept his award as soon as the ceremony restarted after the intermission. The PR girl shadowing him told him and Nardicio to go hang out at Nick Denton's table so they'd be right next to the stage. but there isn't any room at the Gawker Media overlord's table. Levi headed instead for socialite Tinsley Mortimer's table where photographers eagerly snapped the unlikely pairing. Joshua David Stein returned for his promised interview, but Levi said he needs clear it with Tank. Stein rebutted that Tank had already cleared it, but Levi — who either didn't remember, didn't care, or simply wanted to protect himself — turned him down again, this time a little more firmly. Marvin stepped in and said they'd talk to Tank and do the interview later.

Levi asked who he needs to thank in his speech which he obviously hasn't thought about until then. Nardicio told him to thank Fleshbot and The Box. Levi added that he should also say something about the upcoming issue of Playgirl and to tell people to buy it. He is all business.

When his award was announced he and Nardicio went on stage where Levi successfully avoided being photographed with a big silver dildo. His speech was exactly what he planned: He thanked Fleshbot and The Box and then told everyone to buy his issue of Playgirl.

After leaving the stage, he meets up with Tank and Marvin and they head out the door. He has to get up early to work out before his big shoot. Our colleague Irin over at Jezebel got her questions answered about the type of ladies Levi likes and JDS eventually got his interview, making poor Richard Johnson the only person denied the chance to exchange banalities with the man of the hour. Levi, like he said, was all about business, and last night his business was spectacle.

Top three photos by Hee Jin Kang, bottom by GuestofaGuest

1. "What A-list actress, always movies, may be finding it harder these days to afford her much admired clothes and style as her career has stalled? She took not one, not two, but TEN irreplaceable 1950s vintage couture dresses from the set of her last film. The LA rental house who supplied the dresses was of course paid replacement value and damages by the embarrassed production, but next time you read about this actress on the red carpet in "an amazing vintage couture gown she chose herself," feel free to point and laugh." [CDaN]

2. "Which curvy celebrity with a lucrative fragrance deal and defunct fashion line doesn't like to admit she's packed on a few pounds since the height of her fame? Her assistant has learned to ask for labels of a smaller size sewn into the fashion samples she calls in for her famously tempestuous boss." [Blind Gossip]

3. "Which slightly horsey yet sexy young actress is a lesbian, gamely accessorized with one of those perennial girlfriend-slash-assistants? What does that say about her boyfriend?" [VV]

4. "Which soul legend approves outfits after being presented with drawings of them in a size two? (If she says, "Uh-huh," her designer proceeds to make them in a size 2000.)" [VV]

5. "Which Broadway diva who didn't get the part in that movie musical eventually telegrammed the legendary composer with, "Liked the movie. Wish her music had been better served"? (His sardonic response: "Who asked you, you fucking cunt?")" [VV]

6. "Who once introduced herself to a theater actress by saying, "Hi, I'm [so-and-so], star of [Disney spoof movie]"? Who asked you, etc., etc.?" [VV]

7. "Which hunky '70s tennis star used to like three-ways with women, one of whom he would charmingly ask to insert a dildo in his butt? (I guess the other one kept score.)" [VV]

8. "Which blonde movie star starts every shoot by scanning the set to see who's looking at her (and therefore who wants to play fill-the-nacho)?" [VV]

9. "Which brother who has achieved his own measure of success is a creepy egomaniac, according to some who have worked with him and don't really care to again? Which actress who was once married to that biggie tells gossip-seeking friends, "I'm not allowed to talk about that based on the terms of our agreement," rather than say the much simpler, "No, he's not"?" [VV]

10. "Which flamboyant promoter orders lube by the crate? Does Costco really sell lube?" [VV]

11. "Which '60s pop group supposedly started out as harmonic hookers in the projects?" [VV]

12. "Which married nonfiction book writer who everyone thinks is gay actually isn't? (In fact, he's quite the hetero horndog. What's the world coming to, people?)" [VV]

13. "What married rocker with big hair spurned that superstar's attempts to bed him years ago because "I can't fuck anyone who sweats a lot and smells even worse than I do"?" [VV]

14. "Which designer gets plowed raw by his boyfriend?" [VV]

15. "Which actress was just caught doing drugs with a friend in the bathroom of an East Village bar, an act that makes perfect sense if you consider her TV show?" [VV]

16. "And this one will surely become the intelligentsia's favorite for some time to come: What one-named star used to eat pussy at the Playboy mansion to feed her then-insatiable meth habit? Huh? I'm waiting!" [VV]

• There's a John Edwards/Rielle Hunter sex tape out there, says a former Edwards aide, Andrew Young, in a book proposal that is "impossible to put down." He also makes a few interesting claims that, you know, could be substantial to Edwards' career if they turn out to be true: John Edwards is the father of Young's baby with Hunter, contrary to a statement Young made last year, because his loyalty to Edwards ran deep (?!). Young essentially took the fall for Hunter's baby. Other stuff: John Edwards was waiting for Elizabeth Edwards to die so he and Hunter could get married. Elizabeth Edwards believes Young stole the baseball card collection of Wade Edwards. It kind of gets crazier and crazier. The book got picked up by St. Martin's. [R&M]
  
  
• Jon Gosselin played Frisbee with his kids and then drove around on an ATV together. In other words: fun! Jon Gosselin is finally having fun with his kids! Maybe for the first time, ever. This should be headline news, but it shouldn't be, because now that the show is on hiatus, I guess paparazzi should just leave their house? What's it like to have to be a Jon and Kate paparazzi, though? Really: think about the guy who gets that assignment. "Aw, what the fuck? I have to go to Pennsylvania again?!" It'd be especially bad if you hated kids. That is all. [Just Jared]
  
  
• Elliot Spitzer was at lunch talking to LMDC executive director Avi Schick about Mark Sanford, and he was all like, "Yea, gangster, wassup. At least I didn't tell none those hoes that I lubbed 'em. You know?!" Also, he bragged about not using taxpayer money to pay for his kicks. Comparatively, he's got a point. Other than that, it doesn't really mean shit. In other news, VH1 is putting the development of "The Disgraced Governor's Guide to Crazy Hot Tail" into overdrive. [Page Six]
  
  
• Kevin Bacon and his brother hiked up a mountain to play a tribute concert for Farrah Fawcett while raising money to fight cancer. Honestly, what can't Kevin Bacon do? I think he's now, like, four degrees from sainthood. Still six from Malcolm Jamal-Warner, but, you know, what can you do. [NYDN]
  
  
• Jay-Z and Beyonce partied at a Roots show at the Highline Ballroom, where The Roots have a residency. This isn't surprising, because almost everybody in New York has gone or will go to see The Roots play at the Highline Ballroom, now. It's like taking the subway. [R&M]
  
  
• Michael Musto's going to be playing chaplain to gay couples getting married tonight. [Page Six]
  
  
• Here's another cheap item implying Lindsey Lohan does blow. In other news, I need coffee and a cigarette, the sun is kind of yellow, and your mom wants you to give her a call. Seriously, like, slow news day, Showbiz Spy? [Showbiz Spy]
  
  
• Katie Couric doesn't want her picture taken. By wide decree of the land, and so it was. [Page Six]
  
  
• Cindy Adams makes a joke about South Carolina: "The state beverage is milk." That being said, Cindy Adams beverage of choice must be an arsenic spritzer, because the rest of the column is indiscernable nonsense (but fun crazy old lady indiscernible nonsense!). [Page Six]
  
  
• Megan Fox must stop licking her lips at once! [WWTDD]

He explains New York wanted to see his "interesting closet" for a feature on closets but then backed out. They asked for multiple quotes and comments and never used them. Then, they gave him an assignment that the subject refused to do.

We think we see the problem here. Musto is too well-known—he's been a media/downtown fixture for years—and perhaps making himself too available. Thus, everyone lazily sees him as an easy go-to person for quotes and anecdotes, a "just in case we can't get Taylor Momsen" type of backup guy. Musto needs to cultivate a more mysterious, "I don't do press" persona. Editors will be panting over what they can't have in no time.

They always remember names and stuff? Well that's easy enough to fake. They just have their assistants look up whatever journalist they're meeting with that day, print out a picture, and make a little flashcard. Simple as that! Of course these people are friendly to the press. They're at work. Though I'm sure myriad waiters and Starbucks baristas and parking valets and hotel concierges would agree with the choices, right? Right?

"Well, I simply adore this writeup, but let me make a tiny clarification: While I am indeed crazy, if I'm drunk, it's only from the caffeine in Diet Coke!

"Also, 'At least they have a hobby'? Honey, it's my job!!!

"And as for a full update: We actually hit 12 bars and clubs that night! We graced Mansion, the Eagle, Hudson Bar & Books, Chi-Chiz, Gym Bar, G Lounge, XES, Barracuda, Splash, Pieces, Marie's Crisis, and Pop Rocks. If I was on anything other than soda, would I be able to remember all that? Now on to lucky 13!"
[La Daily Musto]

* In an earlier piece, we described Michael Musto as frog-like. He prefers to be known as "owl-like". Our apologies.

She wanted me to know that it was SHE who was with Page at the Oscars (though I had been sardonically wondering if it was a mother/girlfriend/whatever). She named a couple of other starlets who also had reps with them at the awards and said it's by no means an unusual practice. (Now I'll have to wonder if THEY'RE gay too.) "I don't know why people are so mean," Bush whinnied in a wounded voice. "It's not mean to wonder if someone's gay," I shrieked, outraged. "But to call her an 'Oscar loser'?" she moaned.

The ensuing contretemps indeed involved retracting the ignominy that dare not speak its name: "I nobly took 'Oscar loser' off the web version faster than Juno gives away her baby," Musto acknowledged today. The move rewards the latest of Bush's humanitarian efforts on behalf of clients including Ellen DeGeneres (for whom she allegedly threatened an animal shelter during DeGeneres' dog-adoption drama last year) and the late Heath Ledger (in whose name Bush recently rallied her client base against Entertainment Tonight) and establishing beyond doubt that Ellen Page was:
1) an Oscar runner-up who
2) did not attend the show with her mother.
We're so glad to finally put this controversy to rest!

• Ellen Page Sexuality Update [La Daily Musto]

• What couple almost split up during the making of that movie because she was on fire with jealousy that he got to show his actual talent? (No worries. It totally bombed.)
• Which top anchor is a bottom? [Ha.]
• Which pop star is a top? (Or so goes the legend; actually, he and one of his hot boyfriends switched positions and loved it.) [Ha!]
• Which female politician once slept with a rabbi's sister, according to an American Idol personality who's a friend of the rabbi?
• What much younger songstress has very little actual chemistry with the husband, probably because she's a big old lesbo?
• Which pasty-white club mess (with his friends) blithely walked out on a check at Beige (after insanely trying to get me to pay it) and was thrown out of Hiro for choking his boyfriend, the same week he was featured in New York magazine's Look Book? What same guy became the subject of restraining tactics by a stylist when he kept using the stylist's name to get free clothes long after he ceased working for him? (Oh, did I mention he's also a thief?)
• What cute, young guy, who's Hollywood royalty, recently had a heartwarming experience peeing into a trannie's anus, only to have all kinds of shit shoot out?
• Which exotic, young hotshot designer has been supposedly doing it with that black rapper with many children?

Feel free to speculate on these or any of Musto's others, to us or in the comments. Go nuts.

La Dolce Musto [VV]

"[They were] looking for different, supposedly "cutting edge creative types" to promote in a massive ad campaign... and it involved having your picture in every major magazine for a whole year, every issue, for an entire year, so this is like the Judy Holliday movie where she was a billboard of herself, but on a larger scale. And they wanted me, and asked me to submit a press kit, just to see me, I guess."

"[I sent them] a picture... of me in this big hoop dress. But not looking female at all, I mean, I wasn't in drag, I was just standing there with my bicycle, in a hoop dress, looking kind of clownish. But I included it because I thought I should be true to myself and present the full picture of me...."

"And they told me I had been chosen, we were all set to go forward with the photo shoot, and it never happened. Everyone else got their photo shoot and got their massive exposure, for a full year, and I found out a year later, that the reason I had been bumped from this incredible campaign, of supposedly cutting edge people, was that the Italian folks who ran the company were offended by the picture of me in the dress..."

I had to sit there, and watch, for a year and watch this campaign explode knowing that if I'd only withheld that one clipping, I probably would have been in the campaign. The whole thing felt like a movie...

The best thing I could have done/would have done would have been to soft-peddle my subversive side in the campaign, and get bigger in the mainstream and that would have resulted in a higher profile. I should have tempered my subversive youth in order to go more public. I never learned. [Huffington Post]

I showed up a little late with Jennifer Gerson from Jezebel. As we were checking her coat, this elfin Indian dude, a mover-and-shaker-type, came up to us and was dripping with intentions to network. We shook him off and made our way into the main room where we immediately saw Michael Musto sitting alone at a reserved table, not drinking his bottle service, not eating the mini-cheeseburgers served to him. So we went over there and asked if we could take a seat. He sort of ignored us, which was fine, because at least he wasn't telling us to not drink the hooch.

The awards—which featured such coveted titles as "Best Designer With Influence," and "Best Restaurant With A Nightlife Scene"—for the most part were confusing. People were making up nominees, and not really sticking to the script. Perez couldn't pronounce anyone's name (including Nikola's) so he just sort of mumbled a lot. Then when they announced the winner, it was hard to hear what anyone said, and people actually gave acceptance speeches. I guess it was more interesting looking around at the room at all the aging drag queens.

After the awards ceremony was over people milled about, and Jennifer and I were accosted by that lil' networking guy again. This time he was like, "Hey, you pretty girls want to come to this private party I'm throwing at a penthouse around the corner? It's gonna be really great. The owners of The Box are going to be there, it's gonna be a lot of fun."

"Oh really? Is there going to be coke?" I asked. I mean, it might be the influence of growing up with Brat Pack movies, but "penthouse parties" is synonymous with cocaine to me.

"Well, I mean you're welcome to bring your own," I turned back around to my drink and continued my conversation with Jennifer.

"Oh well, you know, Simon and the guys from The Box will have a lot of fun stuff for you girls, I'm sure," he offered. He turned to Jennifer and said, "I can make you famous."

"Um, that's alright," she said. We grabbed our goodie bags, which only contained a magazine, a perfume sample, and a box of Altoids, and left to hail a cab. And who did we see down there? Perez, with like five goodie bags. He must've really liked those perfume samples.

I told Josh to Photoshop Perez a vagina. He did a good job, right?